John Mayall The First Generation (35-CD Deluxe Box Set)

The first set of this size to be released documenting John Mayall’s early years sees not only all albums from his much lauded formative career, but also unreleased tracks aplenty. Featuring Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Mick Taylor, Harvey Mandel, Blue Mitchell, Jon Mark and many more outstanding musicians, this mammoth package contains 35 CDs, a beautiful hardback book and much more.

Not for nothing did Mayall earn the moniker »Godfather of the British Blues«. For a short but compelling time in the 60s and 70s he recognised raw talent, took it in, nurtured it, and everyone thrived and benefitted as a result. Many of the best musicians of the period passed through the hallowed ranks of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. All are on show here in a stunning set crammed with musical highlights.

Put together with John Mayall’s full co-operation, the full list of contents is as follows:

• 35 Discs, inc. 3 CD singles & 8 previously unreleased discs, alongside newly remastered versions of the original Decca & Polydor albums
• Music from seven unreleased gigs (inc. Windsor 1967, Gothenburg 1968, Berlin 1969 and San Francisco 1970)
• 28 previously unreleased BBC tracks featuring Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor
• Hardback Book inc. many rare photos and memorabilia plus a full gig listing for the period
• Individually signed photograph
• Fan club book of letters and correspondence
• 2 replica posters - Ten Years Are Gone and 1968 tour poster
• Replica press pack for John Mayall Plays John Mayall

This box set will be limited to 5, 000 copies worldwide and released on the Madfish label through Snapper Music.

Albumtitel:

CD 1: John Mayall Plays John Mayall (1965) Ft. Roger Dean u. a.
CD 2: I'm Your Witchdoctor / Telephone Blues (1965) Ft. Eric Clapton u. a.
CD 3: Lonely Years / Bernard Jenkins (1966) Ft. Eric Clapton u. a.
CD 4: Blues Brakers (1966) (Mono) Ft. Eric Clapton u. a.
CD 5: Blues Brakers (1966) (Stereo)+Bonus Tracks Ft. Eric Clapton u. a.
CD 6: All My Life EP (1967) Ft. Paul Butterfield, Peter Green u. a.
CD 7: A Hard Road (1967) Ft. Peter Green u. a.
CD 8: Crusade (1967) Ft. Mick Taylor, Keef Hartley u. a.
CD 9: The Blues Alone (1967) Ft. Keef Hartley
CD10: The Diary Of A Band Vol. 1 (1967) Ft. Mick Taylor u. a.
CD11: The Diary Of A Band Vol. 2 (1967)
CD12: Bare Wires (1968) Ft. Mick Taylor, Jon Hiseman u. a.
CD13: Blues From Laurel Canyon (1968) Ft. Mick Taylor u. a.
CD14: Looking Back (1969) Ft. Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Peter Green u. a.
CD15: The Turning Point (1969) Ft. Jon Mark, Stephen Thompson u. a.
CD16: Empty Rooms (1969) Ft. Jon Mark u. a.
CD17: USA Union (1970) Ft. Harvey Mandel u. a.
CD18: Back To The Roots (1970)(1) Ft. Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor u. a.
CD19 Back To The Roots (1970)(2)
CD20: Thru The Years (1971) Ft. Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Mick Taylor u. a.
CD21: Memories (1971) Ft. Jerry McGee, Larry Taylor
CD22: Jazz Blues Fusion (1972) Ft. Freddie Robinson, Ron Selico u. a.
CD23: Moving On (1972) Ft. Freddie Robinson, Victor Gaskin u. a.
CD24: Ten Years Are Gone (1973) (1) Ft. Freddie Robinson, Victor Gaskin u. a.
CD25: Ten Years Are Gone (1973) (2)
CD26: The Latest Edition (1974) Ft. Larry Tyler, Hightide Harris u. a.
CD27: BBC Recordings (1964-1968) (1) Ft. Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Jack Bruce, Mick Taylor, Andy Fraser, Colin Allen u. a.
CD28: BBC Recordings (1964 - 1968) (2)
CD29: Bromley Technical College (1967) Ft. Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie
CD30: Live (1967) Ft. Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie
CD31: 7th Nat. Blues Festival (1967) Ft. Mick Taylor, John McVie u. a.
CD32: Gothenburg (1968) Ft. Mick Taylor, Stephen Thompson u. a.
CD33: Berlin (1969) Ft. Mick Taylor, Stephen Thompson, Colin Allen
CD34: Bremen (1969) Ft. Mick Taylor, Stephen Thompson, Colin Allen
CD35: Fillmore West (1970) Ft. Jon Mark, Alex Dmochowski, Duster Bennett u. a.

John Mayall's Bluesbreakers

When Eric Clapton left the Yardbirds in the wake of their 1965 breakthrough hit For Your Love for going too pop, he quickly gravitated to the godfather of the British blues scene, John Mayall, and his Bluesbreakers.

 Born November 29, 1933 in Macclesfield, Cheshire, Mayall was inspired by his dad's extensive record collection. He became proficient on guitar, piano, and harmonica as he progressed, spending four years in art school and a stint in the Army during the Korean War. In 1962, Mayall opened for Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, Korner subsequently mentoring the relative newcomer. In early '63, Mayall, by then in London, formed his first line-up of Bluesbreakers. Decca staff producer Mike Vernon helmed their debut single Crawling Up A Hill in 1964, which sold 500 copies.

After many personnel changes, Mayall's rhythm section solidified with bassist John McVie and drummer Hughie Flint. Decca cut their first album, a live set, that year (Roger Dean was their guitarist, with Mayall on piano and harp), and another studio single, Crocodile Walk, before letting the Bluesbreakers go. Clapton joined the ranks in April of '65, Jimmy Page producing I'm Your Witchdoctor with the new line-up for Immediate before they reunited with Vernon in April of '66 to cut a full-length studio LP for Decca.

'Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton' was the name of that incendiary affair, loaded with well-chosen American blues covers (Clapton shared Mayall's purist tendencies) and a handful of originals including Have You Heard, written by Mayall about his then-girlfriend Christine. Clapton fed his solid-bodied Gibson Les Paul (he switched from a Telecaster after seeing Freddy King cradling one on an album cover) through a powerful Marshall amp, affording him sonic superiority. Alan Skidmore's jazzy tenor sax opens the luxuriously downbeat Have You Heard, Mayall on organ and impassioned vocal, but it's Clapton's blasting, Freddy-influenced axe that ignites it.

The album was a smash in Great Britain, peaking at #6, but that didn't stop Eric from splitting to form Cream with bassist Jack Bruce (another Bluesbreakers alumnus) and drummer Ginger Baker just after its release that July. Peter Green had already served a brief stint with the Bluesbreakers, and he rejoined in time for the band's next LP, 1967's 'A Hard Road.' When Green left later that year along with drummer Mick Fleetwood to form Fleetwood Mac (McVie quickly followed), Mayall turned to yet another promising young British guitarist, Mick Taylor.

Mayall modernized his approach during the late '60s, freely experimenting with extended jazz-rock formats. At the dawn of the '70s, he relocated to California. No matter where he resided, Mayall retained his uncanny knack for unearthing terrific players: guitarist Harvey Mandel and electric violinist Don 'Sugarcane' Harris were in his first U.S. band. Mayall remains musically active and on the road, that knack having yet to desert him: guitarists Coco Montoya, Walter Trout, and Buddy Whittington have passed through the ranks in more recent times.     

Bill Dahl
Chicago, Illinois

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